IBM: Online consumer spending jumps 15% in Q2

By Dan Berthiaume

Armonk, N.Y. -- Online consumer spending rose a healthy 15% in the second quarter of this year compared to the second quarter of last year. The IBM Online Retail Sales Index shows that mobile sales reached 19.4% of total online sales, up 28% from last year. Online shopping growth substantially outpaced the 4.6% year-over-year increase of in-store sales during the second quarter.

Other highlights from the Index include a 55% year-over-year increase in online health and beauty sales and 56% rise in online home goods sales, as well as a 21% increase in online apparel sales driven by retailers reducing prices to clear space for back-to-school inventory. Average order value online reached $413.23, a 26$ increase from the second quarter of 2012, with the iPad generating more traffic than any other mobile device.

In addition, Index statistics demonstrate that the number of consumers using a mobile device to visit a retailer’s site reached nearly 27%, up more than 35% year-over-year. The iPad generated more traffic than any other mobile device at close to 11% of retail traffic, a 60% increase from last year. The iPhone closely followed, generating 10.5% of traffic, with Android devices generating 7.1%.